Nonostante la società Aymara sia patriarcale, le donne posso a volte occupare ruoli di spicco / Even if the Aymara society is man based, women some time can get up to roles with high responsibility

La festa è anche l’occasione perfetta per divertirsi e fare nuove conoscenze / The party it’s the opportunity to have fun and meet new friends…

Dalle ceste colorate usciranno cibo e alcol in abbondanza e molti si ubriacheranno fino al tramonto / Food and drinks will be shared once the official parade is over, and many will gets severe drunk by the sunset

Music was coming loud from the square even in the early morning. “What’s that?” we asked. “Today 20th of January it’s a great day! Today we celebrate the 8th anniversary from the foundation of the County of Santiago de Huata!”

From the early hours people are coming from all over the county to parade. There is excitement in the air but people are also anxious to officially represent the village they are coming from. Men are dressed in red ponchos, women with their best dresses. The band will lead the parade, communities with their banners are ready to parade in front of the authorities. On the stage in the main square important personalities are proudly introduced to prove the way to modernity of the State: the potable water company, the doctors from the new ambulatory, the public transport, the Sport Centre with the brand new synthetic soccer field coming straight from Germany.

In the mean time the square gets full of street food stations and running kids. When the official parade is over, people starts to get out their bags food and drinks to share. Alcohol it’s everywhere, both women and men start to drink until it’s dark. A weird scene from the outside.

Such celebrations are common in young nations and dictatorships. “Too many parades, too many showings off when people doesn’t really care” a solitary man tells me from a corner of the crowded square. “Every family of every village has to have at least one person in the parade. Otherwise they get fined up to 150 Bolivianos”.

Bolivia has trouble to build a sense of belongings in its citizens. Evo Morales, leading the country until 2020, it’s investing so much money in this kind of public events. He wants to show how great and organized is the Estado Plurinaciònal de Bolivia. So we are all going to the Anniversary of the County of Santiago the Huata! Even if it’s